Overview
- Sens. Tim Scott and John Kennedy introduced a bill to raise the cash currency transaction report trigger from $10,000 to $30,000 and to increase suspicious activity report thresholds to $3,000 and $10,000, respectively.
- The Bank Secrecy Act, signed in 1970, created sweeping currency and suspicious activity reporting that critics say now captures routine transactions because the original cash threshold was never indexed for inflation.
- Recent legislation placed approved stablecoin issuers on a compliance footing similar to traditional financial institutions, even as crypto transfers can move large sums quickly outside bank rules highlighted by the BSA.
- Commentary around the 55th anniversary cites more than 27.5 million reports filed last year and notes that banks are barred from disclosing when a suspicious activity report is filed.
- Other lawmakers, including Rep. John Rose and Sen. Mike Lee, have proposed curtailing or repealing reporting mandates, with some advocates urging inflation adjustments to roughly $77,000 or more.